NASCAR News

Home

Quizzes

Newsletter

'It was a disappointment': Layne Riggs laments early flat tire at Homestead that took him out of title battle

Front Row Motorsports driver Layne Riggs. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Add us as a preferred source on Google

'It was a disappointment': Layne Riggs laments early flat tire at Homestead that took him out of title battle

By Samuel Stubbs | Last updated Nov 6, 2026 10:16 PM ET

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Both Layne Riggs and Kaden Honeycutt cried at the conclusion of Friday's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Homestead, but for very different reasons.

While Honeycutt earned his fifth win of the season and won the championship by a whopping 83 points, Riggs, who had a flat tire early and was never in contention for the race or the title dejectedly exited his No. 34 Ford on pit road post-race and lamented the fact that he never had a true shot to battle Honeycutt for the title on Friday night.

Early contact with Nick Sanchez led to a flat tire, which led to Riggs coming down pit road multiple times and later earning a penalty for having too many crew members over the wall that doomed his prospects on Friday. He finished 32nd, six laps down to cap what was otherwise a career season that saw him win seven races and lead 988 laps.

What Layne Riggs said after Homestead

"I had plenty of time to think about it when I was running about 10 laps down out there," Riggs told Fox Sports. "Kind of just thinking about the year we had, the success we had. Obviously, we weren't able to put the consistency together to be champions tonight. We knew we were going to have to come out here, we were going to have to run an almost perfect race.

DISASTER EARLY! @LayneRiggs99 has a problem with the right-rear tire on the backstretch and is forced to make an unscheduled pit stop. https://t.co/b9iXGOBuUY
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) November 7, 2026

"I'm just proud of the entire team that we were even in the talk. It was just disappointing... I didn't even know what my truck was going to be, because after that initial contact, I don't know what happened with the 77. I thought I was good, the next thing I know I got super free up under him. The next thing I knew, we got a tire down."

It was another instance of championship heartbreak for Riggs, who won three races in 2025 but didn't advance to the Championship 4 and didn't have a shot at beating Corey Heim at Phoenix.

"Regroup, be better, look at all the positives we had. I'm excited for next year," Riggs said. "I have made solid progression every year I've been the in the Truck Series. I feel like I'm still progressing and maturing every race as a driver. I'm super thankful to even be on the racetrack and have top-notch equipment.

"Obviously, today, it was a disappointment. I'm not going to put a bad look on the entire year as a season just for this one race when we knew it was going to be a Hail Mary to get it done anyway. Congrats to the 11. They did a great job, they had a very consistent season."

Both Riggs and Honeycutt will return to their respective rides in 2027 and are likely to battle for the championship again, but 2026 will forever be one that got away for Riggs.

Samuel Stubbs

Hailing from Arkansas, the same neck of the woods as NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin, Samuel has been covering NASCAR for Yardbarker since 2024. When he’s not writing about racing, Samuel covers Arkansas Razorbacks basketball. He's a member of the National Motorsports Press Association and the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. Samuel attends the University of Arkansas.

More must-reads: